It is only going to be really good if the judges (3 of whom are known to be wimps) call it with no B.S. You can only trust Simon Cowell (and Piers Morgan for America's Got Talent) to give you the honest evaluation. Nicole, Paula and Randy want to be too nice to the contestants. I hope they have overcome their past reputations as judges and risen to a higher level. If that happens, then X-Factor could be really GOOD.

Last Updated: 2:12 AM, September 11, 2011"My real fear,” he says, “was that we would get one or two thousand people to turn up in every city, and it’s simply not enough. You don’t want to give $5 million dollars to somebody who’s just gonna win a show and not sell any records.”

The auditions attracted tens of thousands. Still, there were enough marginal songbirds to make even Cowell’s palms sweat. “You’ve gotta hope that somebody’s gonna come through who’s gonna be able to compete with Beyonce, Rihanna, Katy Perry,” he says. “The business has really changed since Lady Gaga emerged. So I still feel that pressure, but this time it’s just a bit more visible.”

In person, Cowell looks rested and re-energized. To counter jet lag from flying back and forth across the Atlantic, he’s geared his working day around “London time” and shifted his work hours to suit his hometown body clock. That means he starts his Los Angeles days at two in the afternoon. “And then I finish at five or six in the morning,” he says. Gone is the bored expression, replaced with unbridled enthusiasm. “The truth is that when I left [‘American Idol’], I’d kind of switched off,” he says. “I didn’t believe we were making good TV in the final year, compared to what we did years ago.”

Harsh comments from “Idol” executive producer Nigel Lythgoe didn’t help. Lythgoe said the new “Idol” was a “lighter” place, with a happier atmosphere in Cowell’s absence, more singer-friendly. “And I called him out on it,” says Cowell. “I said, ‘Nigel, even if you feel that way, you’ve got to remember that I put nine years of my life into that show and was part of the reason it became such a hit. This is unprofessional, it’s disrespectful, and it’s not what you should be doing as a human being and as a producer. So just stop it.’ And it stopped. It was stupid. All of us, Nigel, myself included, we’re Brits who’ve been allowed to make shows in America which are hopefully going to do well. So enjoy it. Why do you want to be negative? That’s why I left the show, because I just didn’t like that attitude.”

But there is no time for looking back. Cowell says he believes he’s got “five or six” people who’ve got “The X Factor,” that certain something that signifies an undeniable star, and he can’t wait to go on the air. What will success be in his eyes? “We’ve gotta beat everyone else,” he says flatly. “Make no mistake. I will put every single second of my energy into this to make it the No. 1 show, and if it’s not, I will be disappointed. But even if it’s No. 2, I’ll work harder next year to make it No. 1.”

I personally think the fact that they have opened this to all ages is going to make a world of difference. That may be the biggest thing out of several other reasons that makes this the best.It will be interesting to see if American Idol tries to copy that rule or other aspects of the show for their next season.

That show has been over for more than one hour now. I see X-Factor as an improvement over American Idol. It is really a singing-only equivalent to America's Got Talent except that contestants can be as young as 12 for the X-Factor and there does not seem to be lower age limit for AGT.

There were some good singing talent on tonight's show, but I was a bit bored. The only really interesting part was the section where Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid had a string of opposite votes. It appeared that Paula Abdul is going to support Simon almost all the time and Nicole Scherzinger too. So what value do they add to the show? It's certainly not swaying to the music for many of the better performers.

Tonight's show was a consolidation of auditions in Los Angeles (where Cheryl Cole was a judge before being replaced by Nicole and sent back to Scotland) and Seattle. I am not going to waste my time with X-Factor complete recaps, but I do plan to report whatever interests me.

"I can't speak for production, but I really like that people see us when we're traveling around the world. If you're a fan of the show, ... you're going to be more excited because you want to see what happens."Phil Keoghan

The Miami and Dallas auditions were last night's episodes. There was nothing different in how things happened, although there was one instructive singer who L.A. Reid, Nicole and Paula liked. Once Simon expressed "not ready yet" concerns, they back off and voted NO along with him. I did not appreciate that happening. The key to many singers who they are setting up for future episodes is whether they were given the opportunity to tell their backstory. On a positive note, Simon did allow audience expression of opinion about a singer or group to apparently influence his vote; I'm sure that the same was true for L.A., Nicole and Paula.

Here is some information about how the total X-Factor process will work:Auditions occurred in six cities in May and June of this year, where the judges (before a live audience) selected contestants to move on to a semifinal round. This boot-camp round, held in Los Angeles, is where the judges, again working in front of a live audience, narrow the pool of hopefuls to 24. From here, the judges get assigned a group of six contestants, each pooled into one of four categories (young guys, young girls, older singers and groups), and begin reducing their own groups to three. This round is called the Judges' Houses round, since they will be taped on location at the judges' (purported) residences. This group of twelve (three from each judge) are the finalists, who then move on to live performance episodes, which are judged by viewers.

That process is exemplified by Simon telling some singers that they would have to "work harder than they ever have in their life" to get the $5 million prize.

This process means that the X-Factor is essentially a repeat of the process used by "The Voice". I know that Simon is copy-catting his British show, but he did so one year too late to be able to claim coaching of competitors by an experienced star as their innovation in the U.S..

I do find it interesting the Simon is paying more attention to the audience this time around, which is a advantage to live auditions. I think this is why he gave Dexter Haygood a second chance: because the audience liked him.

Thanks for sharing those! When is this on again? I guess now I have to watch!

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"I can't speak for production, but I really like that people see us when we're traveling around the world. If you're a fan of the show, ... you're going to be more excited because you want to see what happens."Phil Keoghan

"I can't speak for production, but I really like that people see us when we're traveling around the world. If you're a fan of the show, ... you're going to be more excited because you want to see what happens."Phil Keoghan

The X-Factor schedule is as follows beyond next week's Wednesday and Thursday remaining audition episodes:

The show’s performance Boot Camp (contestants face a panel of judges and audience) begins on Oct. 5. Those that make it through will be placed in four groups (young guys, young girls, older singers and groups). Then producers will assign each judge to mentor a category (the release says producers will “surprise” the judges with these choices, but does anybody really buy that producers will order Simon Cowell to mentor a category he doesn’t want?).

The remaining contestants will go to the “judges homes” on Oct. 12Finalists will be revealed Oct. 25 and have their first live performance show on Nov. 2.

It sounds like X-Factor will remain in a Wednesday and Thursday night mode for a while.

The X-Factor Boot Camp started last night. Its purpose is to provide the judges with enough information to reduce the current group of 162 competitors to 32. First, every singer or group sang something individually; dozens were eliminated on the spot; that made perfect sense.

The remaining 100 individuals and groups were divided into about 8 sections and had to learn and perform a song for the judges in 5 hours. I understand that this produced some bizarre behavior, with each performer being featured for nanoseconds and the result you would expect.

Ultimately, the judges want the remaining competitors to fall perfectly into the categories of Young Girls, Young Guys, Over 30s and Groups with 8 in each category. I assume that then the judges pick their teams Will it be like "the Voice" or will it involve one judge for each category? However, what happens to singers in the 20s? Are they left out in the cold because they don't fit any category?

Tonight's episode is expected to finish with the cuts to reach exactly 32 individuals or groups fitting into the above categories.